Canso Causeway
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The Canso Causeway (''Cabhsair Chanso'' in
Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
) is a rock-fill
causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
crossing the Strait of Canso, connecting
Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...
by road to the
Nova Scotia peninsula The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America. Location The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the neighbouring province of New Brunswick through the Is ...
. Its
crest thickness Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...
is , carrying the two vehicle traffic lanes of the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
,
Nova Scotia Highway 104 Highway 104 in Nova Scotia, Canada, runs from Fort Lawrence at the New Brunswick border near Amherst to River Tillard near St. Peter's. Except for the portion on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, it forms the main ro ...
on the mainland side, and
Nova Scotia Highway 105 Highway 105 in Nova Scotia represents the Cape Breton Island leg of the Trans-Canada Highway. It runs from the Port Hastings Rotary just east of the Canso Causeway in Port Hastings to the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal in North Sydney, represen ...
on the Cape Breton side, as well as the single track mainline of the
Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway The Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway is a short line railway that operated in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. CBNS operated () of main line and associated spurs between Truro in the central part of the province to Point Tuppe ...
. Constructed in an "S" shape, the causeway has a base width of in waters having a maximum depth of . Cape Breton Island remains circumnavigable as a result of the wide and long
Canso Canal The Canso Canal is a short canal located in Nova Scotia, Canada. Canal location The Canso Canal is in the Strait of Canso, on the eastern side of the Canso Causeway, a rock-fill causeway which opened in 1955 to carry a 2-lane highway and a si ...
, which is located at the eastern end of the causeway to allow ship traffic to transit the Strait of Canso. The
Canso Canal Bridge The Canso Canal Bridge is a rotating swing bridge in Nova Scotia, Canada. It crosses the Canso Canal at the eastern end of the Canso Causeway, connecting the Nova Scotia peninsula to Cape Breton Island. The bridge carries the 2 traffic lanes of ...
is a
swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
which carries the road and railway line across the canal. The word "Canso" is believed to be derived from the
Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...
word ''kamsok'', which means "opposite the lofty cliffs." On July 2, 2014, it was announced that the
Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
would transfer ownership of the causeway to the Nova Scotia provincial government. The federal government will still maintain the Canso Canal and the navigational locks.


Ferries

Prior to the construction of the causeway, Cape Breton Island was connected to the mainland by separate
railway car A railroad car, railcar ( American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is ...
and motor vehicle
ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
. In 1880, the
Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also completely o ...
(ICR) was opened between Mulgrave on the Nova Scotia side, west to
New Glasgow New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait. The town's population was 9,075 ...
. In 1890, the ICR built a line from Point Tupper on the Cape Breton side, east to
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. As a result, a
rail ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...
service was necessary so that rail cars from Cape Breton Island could be interchanged with the mainland North America rail network. Initially a small 2-railcar
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
was used, however the growth of traffic from Industrial Cape Breton soon mandated that a dedicated
rail ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...
service be established. This service was operated by the ICR until 1918 when the ICR was merged into
Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
(CNR). CNR operated the ferries from 1918 until the causeway opened in 1955. Vessels used included: ''Mulgrave'' (1893–1901), ''Scotia'' (1903–1955), and ''Scotia II'' (1915–1955). Various private passenger and horse-drawn carriage ferry services operated between Point Tupper or Port Hawkesbury or Port Hastings to the Nova Scotia side. By the 1930s, the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation took responsibility for providing the automobile ferry service. By the 1940s, as a result of war-time travel growth, as well as the growing popularity of automobiles, the service was expanded to 24 hours/day. Toward the end of the service in the 1950s, vessels included the ''George H. Murray'', ''John Cabot'', ''Ponte de Canseau'', and ''Sir Charles Tupper''.


Proposed bridge

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, the
Industrial Cape Breton Industrial Cape Breton is a geographic region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It refers to the eastern portion of Cape Breton County fronting the Atlantic Ocean on the southeastern part of Cape Breton Island. Geography The area comprisi ...
region was experiencing unprecedented economic growth as a result of multiple coal mines and two large integrated steel mills having opened. The ''Scotia'' rail car ferry that entered service in 1901 was struggling to keep up with the demands despite operating 24-hours per day year-round. In 1903, an ambitious proposal was presented to the provincial and federal governments, a proposal known as the "Strait of Canso Bridge", detailing a plan to build a steel
cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...
at the narrowest portion of the strait to carry the
Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also completely o ...
's main line between
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
. The span, measuring , would have been longer than the Firth of Forth Bridge and roughly similar in size to the
Quebec Bridge The Quebec Bridge (french: pont de Québec) is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became a western area of Quebec City) and Lévis, Q ...
.


Construction

From 1947 to 1951, articles and cartoons in provincial newspapers indicated that the strait's crossing was to be a bridge. Finally, project engineers agreed that because of the size, the amount of ice, the strength of the currents that filled the Strait of Canso every winter, and the depth of the water, it would be difficult to construct a bridge, and instead, a causeway option was chosen. The Canso Causeway was built at a narrow location on the Strait of Canso, about northwest of Port Hawkesbury and Mulgrave, crossing from Cape Porcupine near Auld's Cove on the Nova Scotia side to Port Hastings on the Cape Breton side. About of rock for building the causeway was quarried from a mountain on Cape Porcupine. Contracts were awarded from May 1952 to build approach roads and rail lines for the causeway construction, and the project was officially started at a ceremony on September 16, 1952 that was attended by federal
Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
Lionel Chevrier Lionel Chevrier, (April 2, 1903 – July 8, 1987) was a Canadian Member of Parliament and cabinet minister. Life and career Born in Cornwall, Ontario, the son of former Cornwall mayor Joseph E. Chevrier, he was educated in Cornwall, at the Uni ...
and
Premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of ...
Angus L. MacDonald Angus Lewis Macdonald (August 10, 1890 – April 13, 1954), popularly known as 'Angus L.', was a Canadian lawyer, law professor and politician from Nova Scotia. He served as the Liberal premier of Nova Scotia from 1933 to 1940, when he became ...
. The Strait of Canso was permanently blocked on December 10, 1954, and construction continued through the winter on building the roadway and railway line, as well as finishing the Canso Canal and its swing bridge. Construction was finally completed on April 13, 1955, when the railway line and the roadway were finished at a cost of $22 million. The first train across the causeway was a
Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
work train, led by steam locomotive #2639 on April 18, 1955. The railway line across the causeway entered active service on Saturday, May 14, 1955, when the first revenue train was a 10-car
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...
, led by steam locomotive #6014, and the rail ferry service from Mulgrave to Point Tupper was then discontinued. The roadway across the causeway opened to vehicle traffic on May 20, 1955, when the vehicle ferry service was discontinued.


Official opening

The official opening of the Canso Causeway took place on August 13, 1955 when several thousand people attended ceremonies which included a gala parade of what was meant to be 100 bagpipers heralding Cape Breton's road connection to the North American mainland, however, the 100th bagpiper refused to pipe.


Legacy

When the causeway was completed, the eastern end of the Strait of Canso became ice free during the winter. Several industries were attracted to the Point Tupper area, including the
Stora Stora Enso Oyj (from sv, Stora and fi, Enso ) is a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The majority of sales takes place in Europe, but there are also significant operations in Asia and S ...
pulp and paper mill, a
Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
refinery and a heavy water plant. Aside from blocking sea ice, the blocking of the Strait of Canso caused significant environmental damage from the enormous changes in the tidal regime of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence all the way to the mouth of the
St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
. The causeway also had the effect of damming the waterway for migrating ground fish stocks for decades until some of these species were able to determine how to get around Cape Breton Island into the gulf. In addition, the causeway allowed several non-native species of land animals access onto Cape Breton Island. One particularly troublesome interloper has been the
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
, which has slowly forced the more gentle
lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...
out of its traditional hunting grounds and up into the
Cape Breton Highlands The Cape Breton Highlands (french: Plateau du Cap-Breton, gd, Àrd-thalamh Cheap Bhreatainn), commonly called the Highlands, refer to a highland or mountainous plateau across the northern part of Cape Breton Island in the Canadian province of N ...
. From 1955 to the early 1990s, the Canso Causeway charged a toll to motorists. The toll was discontinued after the construction costs (approximately $23 million) were paid off. In 1993,
CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
sold its
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
-
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
railway line which crossed the Canso Causeway to the
Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway The Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway is a short line railway that operated in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. CBNS operated () of main line and associated spurs between Truro in the central part of the province to Point Tuppe ...
. Today, CB&CNS employees operate the swing bridge across the Canso Canal.


References

{{Commons category Transport in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia Transport in Inverness County, Nova Scotia Buildings and structures in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia Buildings and structures in Inverness County, Nova Scotia Causeways in Canada